Why join the course?

From a personal and professional standpoint, everybody needs a basic comprehension of the legal system in which they live, in order to operate within the law and understand their legal rights and responsibilities.

To be legally aware is to be empowered.

Get an accessible introduction to the common law system

This free online course will provide an introductory insight to the common law system, variations of which are used in countries that are home to 2.3 billion people worldwide.

The course will introduce key legal doctrines and principles in readily accessible formats and language. Case studies will illuminate common applications of the law in real life scenarios, enabling you to explore the relevance of specific subjects to your own professional and personal circumstances, and legal jurisdiction.

Apply the law to your professional and personal life

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

locate and apply relevant regulatory requirements

identify, research, articulate and apply the legal principles relevant to your professional and personal life

anticipate and mitigate legal risk and problems arising in your professional and personal life.

Learn with one of Australia’s top law schools

The course is an extension of the multi-disciplinary subject that lead educator, Lloyd England, already offers to students at the Monash University Faculty of Law – one of the largest and most prestigious law schools in Australia.

0:12Skip to 0 minutes and 12 secondsLLOYD ENGLAND: Hello, I'm Lloyd England. A justice of the peace, and a law lecturer here at Monash University-- Faculty of Law-- Melbourne, Australia. This course is for everyone. The law is literally everywhere. Governing all aspects of our behavior. Can you think of an area of your life that isn't governed by law? I don't think there are many. In fact, I don't think there are any. Imagine a world where everyone behaved lawfully. Wouldn't you like to bring your kids up in that sort of a world? I've assembled barristers, solicitors, judges from the Monash Law Faculty, and together we are going to explore some fundamental doctrines of law.

0:48Skip to 0 minutes and 48 secondsROSS HYAMS: The law is everywhere. It intersects with people's lives all over the place. So everything you do has some intersection with law. A lot of people get in trouble with the law because they don't understand either their rights or their obligations.

0:57Skip to 0 minutes and 57 secondsMELISSA CASTAN: Legal information used to be locked up in books like we see behind me. And now quite esoteric and hard to read and difficult to access. But now we all have the capacity to access the law. We're all walking around with a little, miniature supercomputer in our pockets. Imagine if you could use that to actually understand what all the rules and responsibilities are that every person has.

1:21Skip to 1 minute and 21 secondsNICOLE MOLLARD: There's a sense that law is a discrete area that only lawyers know about. And yet law affects everything that we do every day. You'd be amazed how many laws you could breach in five minutes on Facebook.

1:36Skip to 1 minute and 36 secondsLLOYD ENGLAND: Together we will explore the world of contracts where people decide to make mutual binding obligations and agreements. Criminal Law-- where society itself governs the behavior of its citizens. Torts Law-- tortious liability is like a jellyfish with tentacles stretching far and wide. Touching each and every one of us. You owe people a duty of care you may have never even met. Intellectual Property Law, which tries to look after ideas and expressions of ideas so that we can drive innovation, and move our society forward. The law is literally everywhere. Whether you drive a car, buy goods and services, lease a flat when you get married, or go to work under a contract of employment.

2:23Skip to 2 minutes and 23 secondsROSS HYAMS: There's a lot of legal mythology out there. People who hear information passed from person to person, word of mouth. And it's often wrong. And so it's very important that people get the right understanding of the laws, and that's essential for them to actually understand their position.

2:36Skip to 2 minutes and 36 secondsNICOLE MOLLARD: That tree of yours that hangs over the fence that irritates your neighbor beyond words-- what are your obligations in relation to that? If your neighbor decides to cut that tree down, have they done a wrong by you? If your neighbor decides to pick all the fruit from your overhanging tree, have they done a wrong by you? If they turn that fruit into jam, can you ask for the jam back? If you have a reasonable idea of your obligations towards your neighbor, and your neighbors towards you, you're much more likely to live harmoniously.